Colored coded gas container bands

ABSTRACT

A container of gas used for industrial commercial or home use has an upstanding portion with two like circular grooves in its outer periphery which are disposed horizontally and are vertically displaced, the grooves being separated by a horizontal circular ridge. An identification band, coded to indentify the type of gas, is disposed in one groove to indicate that the container contains a usable amount of gas and is disposed in the other groove to indicate that the container is empty. The band can also be reversed when moved from the one groove to the other.

United States Patent [191 Lyon [11] 3,787,993 Jan. 2 9, 1974 1 COLORED CODEI) GAS CONTAINER BANDS [75] Inventor: George E. Lyon, Florence, Ala.

[73] Assignee: The Raymonfi eb Inc., New York, N.Y.; by said George Lyon [22] Filed: Aug. 21, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 282,605

[52] US. Cl 40/306, 40/310, 40/334, 40/5, 40/28 R, 116/114 S [51] Int. Cl. G09f 3/00 [58] Field ofSeaFcli...40/l9, 21 R, 21A,21B,21C, 40/306-307, 67, 5, 2; 309, 311, 329, 334, 28 R, 310,325; 116/114 S [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,574,957 4/1971 Bello-Bridick 35/76 1,8l1,660 6/1931 Bausher 40/21 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant ExaminerA. J. Heinz 57] ABSTRACT A container of gas used for industrial commercial or home use has an upstanding portion with two like circular grooves in its outer periphery which are disposed horizontally and are vertically displaced, the grooves being separated by a horizontal circular ridge. An

identification band, coded to indentify the type of gas,

is disposed in one groove to indicate that the container contains a usable amount'of gas and is disposed in the other groove to indicate that the container is empty. The band can also 'be reversed when moved from the one groove to the other.

1 Claim, 6 DrawingFigures Australia 40/3 10 she- L993 PATENTEDJAN 29 1974 I s. LYON i! COLORED CODED GAS CONTAINER BANDS FIELD OF THE INVENTION When containers of so called bottle gas, as used for example in cooking stoves or in industrial or commercial applications have been emptied, it is customary to mark same as empty using chalk or the like. The marking is sometimes rubbed off accidentally whereby a user sometimes installs an empty container in the mistaken belief that it is full or at least contains enough gas to be usable. The profit margin in the industry is sufficiently small to prevent the manufacturer of the containers to furnish gauges or other instrumentation for indicating whether or not the container is empty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with my invention, the container is slightly and inexpensively modified to have, on an upstanding portion thereof, vertically spaced like horizontal circulargrooves in its outer periphery. The grooves are separated by a horizontal circular ridge.

An identification band, which can be suitably coded to indicate type of gas used, can be disposed in one groove to indicate that the container contains a usable amount of gas and can be disposed in the other groove to indicate that the container is empty. The opposite sides of the band can carry suitable indicia or can be color coded whereby one side is exposed when the band is in the one groove, and the reverse side is exposed when the band is in the other groove and the indicia or other coding confirms the position of the band by providing another indication of whether or not the container is empty.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of my invention in use;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail section of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are perspectives of different forms of the identification band used in my invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6, an identification band 10 typically of plastic or elastic rubber has two opposite sides, one of which can carry indicia such as the owners name, the other carrying the legend EMPTY. The two sides can be differently colored, with different color combinations being used to identify different gases as well as being associated with empty and non-empty container conditions.

FIG. 3 shows the name carrying side in green and the opposite (empty) side in yellow. These sides are shown as red and yellow respectively in FIG. 4, as orange and yellow respectively in FIG. 5 and as brown and yellow respectively in FIG. 6. Thus yellow always indicates the empty state and the other colors identify the different types of gases used as well as indicating that the container is full or at least contains a usable amount of gas.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a container 12 has first and second .vertically spaced horizontal circular grooves 14 and 16 in its outer periphery. The grooves are separated by a narrow horizontal circular ridge 18.

The band, with the appropriate side exposed is then placed in the appropriate groove to indicate the state of the, container. The band can be flipped from one groove into the other and reversed at the same time by a suitable manual operation. Each groove can have a finger tip recess 20 for facilitating this reversal.

The band can be made with a diameter slightly less than that of the neck to fit snug in the manner of a garter. Under these conditions, it can fit on the conventional neck without the necessity of cutting grooves into the neck.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described this invention, what is asserted as new is:

1. In combination;

a container of bottle gas comprising an opaque gas tight upstanding circular cylinder of uniform diameter having a vertical axis;

saidcylinder having first and second vertically spaced horizontal circumferential grooves in the outersaid periphery having a narrow horizontal circumferential ridge separating said circumferential grooves: and

an annular identification band of elastic material of a diameter slightly less than that of said ridge to fit snug in one of said grooves; v

said identification band having inner and outer surfaces said surface having respective contents bearing indicia; I

said cylinder periphery having finger tip recess means positioned adjacent each of said grooves, said recess means intersecting said grooves wherebysaid band may be flipped from one groove to the other by suitable manual manipulation thereby exposing the indicia on either surface of said band. 

1. In combination; a container of bottle gas comprising an opaque gas tight upstanding circular cylinder of uniform diameter having a vertical axis; saidcylinder having first and second vertically spaced horizontal circumferential grooves in the outerperiphery; said periphery having a narrow horizontal circumferential ridge separating said circumferential grooves: and an annular identification band of elastic material of a diameter slightly less than that of said ridge to fit snug in one of said grooves; said identification band having inner and outer surfaces said surface having respective contents bearing indicia; said cylinder periphery having finger tip recess means positioned adjacent each of said grooves, said recess means intersecting said grooves whereby said band may be flipped from one groove to the other by suitable manual manipulation thereby exposing the indicia on either surface of said band. 